Sudan Excluded From US List of Counterterrorism Uncooperative States

Sudanese demonstrators wave their national flag as they attend a protest rally demanding Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir to step down, outside Defence Ministry in Khartoum, Sudan April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

Washington - Heba El-Koudsy

Sudan was excluded, for the first time since 1993, from the list of uncooperative countries in combating terrorism which was issued by the US State Department on Wednesday evening.

Analysts and experts said the move is an important step towards the complete removal of Sudan from the terrorism list and the possibility for Khartoum to return again to the international community. It will also have a major impact on reviving the country’s economy.

Sudan has been greatly affected by its inclusion on this list of states sponsoring terrorism. But the relations with Washington have improved following talks that Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok held with US officials over the past year.

The premier obtained promises from the State Department, Treasury and Defense officials, and leaders of the US Congress, to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Aly Verjee, researcher at the United States Institute of Peace, said that Hamdok’s government and a broad segment of Sudanese civil society have been seeking for some time to persuade the US government to remove the country from the terrorism list, as the solution to address the economic collapse and to move towards democratization.

The researcher emphasized that there were many systematic steps to be taken, both from Khartoum and Washington, to remove the country from the list, including the need for a negotiated settlement with the families of victims of terrorist attacks.

He explained that the US Treasury removed restrictions on investment and banking when the US lifted its comprehensive sanctions against Sudan in 2017, stressing that there were currently no restrictions on obtaining US foreign aid to the country.

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